


love never thaws

by rippedjuns



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, Established Relationship, Figure Skater!Jisoo, Hockey Player!Seungcheol, I !! Love !! Cheolsoo !! Can !! You !! Tell !!, Ice Sports, Jisoo Releases His Inner Yuuri, M/M, Soft Boys, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Two Motivational Yet Stressed Boyfies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 12:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17683280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rippedjuns/pseuds/rippedjuns
Summary: no matter whether he rises or falls, jisoo feels safe knowing that seungcheol will always be there to catch him in the end





	love never thaws

**Author's Note:**

> hello my fellow cheolsoonators!  
> i hope your 2019 is going great~
> 
> i kind of want to see jisoo in a cool skating outfit like yuuri’s free skate outfit like he would be an even bigger snacc than he is now
> 
> i am in no way trying to copy ‘podium worthy finish’ by janellez because i absolutely loved her minshua fic, i just want to write a figure skating cheolsoo au and my cheolsoo enthusiasts gc on twt (ayyy lads) suggested a hockey player cheol so here i am to fulfill their needs
> 
> (also the only knowledge i have from figure skating is yuuri! on ice and the research i did online so sorry if anything’s incorrect!)
> 
> now playing - history maker by dean fujioka
> 
> (jisoo’s free skate is probably either hug [svt], lovely [billie eilish ft khalid], or yuri’s free skate song sjsksk i couldn’t decide so listen to whatever you prefer!)

_glide, glide, step ball change._

feeling the music pulsing through his veins, the heavy bass pressing against his heart, jisoo skated forward, replaying the routine in his head like a looping tape. his fingers shivered underneath his mittens - in fact, his entire body was desperately crying out for some sort of warmth - but he couldn’t leave the rink. not yet. he would have to rely on the blistering sweat droplets on his skin to provide the heat for him for the time being.

_arms out, glide, and complete turn._

elegance was key for this routine. before, he would be allowed to strike out his arm in one swift movement and be over with it. but now, the judges wanted something new, something fresh, something unusual. jisoo would do anything to make them shocked, because shocking usually equates to winning. some things in the routine were typical must-haves for a routine of this sort, but there was something he and his coach had hidden up their sleeves, something that they knew no one would dare to use - not even the two-time champion yoon jeonghan. the ice beneath his skates hissed as his skates created new marks against its skin, but the only sound that reached jisoo’s ears was the hiss of the stereo as he focused his mind on the prize.

_glide, glide, glide, and jump!_

he didn’t jump with enough power.

jisoo knew from the fact that his projection wasn't at the height his coach deemed perfect for any jump to be successful. he mentally kicked himself as his feet lifted him off of the floor for only a millisecond.

managing to defy gravity for not even the length of an inhale, jisoo found himself falling back to earth with a harsh crash against the rink floor, groaning as his body ached once again from the collision.

he knew performing multiple jumps – including a quad – in the same few seconds was a difficult feat to complete, with not many skaters cutting the mark. only one other skater in his competition knew how to do such a thing, which was why said male was the champion, but jisoo was ready to slide his way into the podium. he’s always played it safe, performing double toe loops and salchows when his coach knows he can progress to more pressurising challenges. his only chance was now, before other skaters come into the scene and steal his limelight.

“jisoo-yah!” his coach, soonyoung, shouted from the sidelines, his notebook in hand to make pointers of improvement. “what did i say about projection?”

picking up his earbud from the glossy rink floor, he brushed the ice sparkles from his leggings in complete shame. “i’m sorry, soonyoung!”

“you need to concentrate on that second jump, that quadruple lutz isn’t going to land itself you know!” a huff froze itself in the atmosphere of the rink, but the noise of its release still settled on jisoo’s shoulders, another burden that he had to carry.

it was only meant to be a hobby, figure skating. something small to relieve him of the stress of school with his friends whilst his parents were finishing off the last few hours of their work tariff. yet suddenly, it’s become his entire life, a task he has to complete day in day out in order to feel satisfied when the sun comes to set. if it wasn’t for an agent seeking him out when he was thirteen at the local ice rink, then maybe he would’ve been a doctor like his parents always desired for him to be. but to be honest, he didn’t regret his choice whatsoever. figure skating brought him something to fight for, and it gave him joy in many forms - one of which was walking through the double doors right now.

“jisoo, baby, they didn’t have any cinnamon syrup left, so i got you hazelnut instead, is that alright?”

still dressed up in his hockey jersey from the session prior, seungcheol strolled towards the walls of the rink, his warm voice heating up jisoo’s body even more than the wavering steam piping from the coffee cups. immediately, the figure skater found himself pushing against the ice, letting the skates follow the scent of the decadent coffee beans and carry him forward towards the edge of the rink.

although no one would think that they would ever meet, considering that jisoo was always practicing his dances and seungcheol was constantly suffocated by his team schedules, fate somehow pushed them together one night at an after party and jisoo could feel the sparks bouncing off of his skin in every place that the hockey player touched. everything about seungcheol was magical, from the enormous puppy dog eyes that wilted every time jisoo seemed the least bit irritated with him (which always lead to jisoo peppering seungcheol with kisses to cheer him up again) all the way down to his comfortable yet strong legs that would feel softer than a pillow when he needed somewhere to cozily idle his head after a long day of practice. even when their diaries are jam-packed with training and events, seungcheol always managed to slot jisoo into any place he could and make time for them to spend together without the presence of others, and that’s what made jisoo feel more special than the most prized diamond on earth.

he took the cup from seungcheol’s hand, letting his fingers linger against the older’s digits for a second too long after craving his touch for so long. “it’s perfect, cheol, thank you.”

“how did your practice go, seungcheol?” jisoo’s coach piped up, eager to jump into the conversation in order to avoid feeling like a third wheel. “are the boys causing you any hassle?”

“in fact, they are.” seungcheol sighed, which instantly caused jisoo’s eyebrow to cock itself upwards. “some of them are really inconsistent with their training attendance, and it really shows in our performance in competitions. i mean, it gives me a chance to brush up on my shooting skills, but it hurts to know that it’s just a game to some of the others and not a lifestyle.”

the figure skater’s hand found its way to the hockey player’s own, drawing calming circles into the older’s skin as he spoke. “i guess it’s because a couple of them have nine-to-fives on top of hockey as well, right? doesn’t mingyu work as an editor for that photographer?”

“you’re right as always, shua, but it would just be nice to receive a notice beforehand if one of them has to run late. you have to prepare so much as a captain and when no one wants to cooperate, you end up feeling a bit...useless.”

as the tone in his boyfriend’s voice faltered, jisoo reached over the rink barrier to rapidly kiss seungcheol with his partially cracked lips, noticing the light switching on immediately in seungcheol’s pupils after they parted. “i don’t think you’re useless, babe.”

a noise of vomit was heard adjacent, which made them slightly giggle. “you two make me sick sometimes!” soonyoung exclaimed, taking the source of a sudden vibration out of his back pocket as he spoke. jisoo and seungcheol simultaneously took a sip of their respected coffees, awaiting an answer from the coach who expressed an unsettled demeanour when he hung up the phone. “talking of being sick, the babysitter’s just called and my dayghter’s thrown up everywhere. you can continue practicing the routine until you’re ready to leave, josh. remember to lock up though!”

before the couple could even fit in another breath, soonyoung had packed his bags and was out of the door, leaving jisoo and seungcheol alone in the rink.

“did you bring your skates?” jisoo handed his boyfriend the coffee cup, satisfied with the buzzing caffeine now travelling through his veins.

seungcheol scoffed, putting the cup back into the cardboard container and placing it on a bench beside him. “what kind of hockey player would i be if i didn’t have my skates?”

“you’d be like hansol that one time where he forgot his entire kit for that game in osaka.”

“oh yeah, you can’t get any worse at forgetting things than hansol chwe.” the hockey player laughed, lacing up his skates before rising to his feet and sauntered over to the rink entrance. “do you remember when he forgot that he had an exam on one of our overseas competitions?”

“and he had a mental breakdown because he couldn’t decide whether to let down his parents or his team? i was helping you comfort him, babe, of course i remember it.” jisoo pushed against the wall and allowed the ice to carry him to the centre of the rink, leaving enough room to allow seungcheol to find his feet on the floor. “your team was a mess when we first met, but you’ve improved so much.”

“eh, we’re still a train wreck.” the hockey player glided across the rink to reach his boyfriend, rushing to grab ahold of the figure skater’s smaller frame. “but look at you, going from a small town skater to an international superstar!” raising his hands’ position on jisoo’s waist up to the boy’s armpits, seungcheol tickled the figure skater senselessly until he was almost falling into the older’s arms. jisoo wheezed from the amount of laughter he was making, melting into the hockey player’s arms as he tried to keep his feet stable on the ice.

“cheol stop!” he exclaimed between breaths, giggling so hard that it was difficult to recognise the pair of words.

“i’ll never stop being proud of you~!” his tickle session soon turned into a back hug as seungcheol settled his head into the crook of jisoo’s neck, fitting flawlessly like the final puzzle piece needed to complete jisoo’s picture. “but honestly jisoo, i’m so proud of how much you’ve progressed baby, you shouldn’t need to worry at all at the next competition.”

“i am though, i don’t want to mess up this routine in front of everyone. i know jeonghan is gonna win again, but i just want to place at least? i’d be overwhelmed with a bronze!”

“if they don’t give you a bronze medal at the minimum, i’ll go up to the judges and whack some sense into them with my hockey stick.”

seungcheol let go of the younger’s waist, smiling at the small whine that left the figure skater’s lips as the hockey player skated until he was opposite jisoo and a good few metres apart. unexpectedly, the leo found himself ogling at jisoo’s body, and how - even though he’s not in his many skating suits - he looks so majestic, like a fairy without his wings, or an angel without his halo.

“you need to learn to just let go. i started doing it when the team was just being difficult to handle and no plans were actually working for us, and we ended up winning the match! all you have to do is listen to the music, feel the bass inside of you, and let your heart guide you rather than your mind.” seungcheol reached into his pocket and tugged out his phone, scouring for jisoo’s track before pressing play. “try it out, and if it doesn’t work then, you know, listen to the talking hamster.”

at first, jisoo was hesitant. for all of his training days, he’s been forced to think about his posture, his pointed feet, the angle of his legs, and there were so many more the boy could name that he could fill up about twenty pages about them. his coach was putting so much weight upon his shoulders that it was now affecting his head, leaving him to take multiple medicines and long resting sessions after practice to ease the throbbing in his mind (although, seungcheol tended to baby him more when he was in this sort of state, so was he really complaining?). the physical pain was starting to take a toll on him mentally as well, which could be the leading reason as to why he’s underperforming and falling short of the stars that sparkled in the medals.

perhaps it was time for him to try something risky this time; the judges did want him to step outside of his comfort zone, to be fair.

recognising the familiar beat, jisoo picked up his feet and began to find his pace, allowing his body to follow the rhythm rather than the instructions embroidered into his brain. he could feel seungcheol’s eager eyes making stitches in his body, and he didn’t mind the older’s undivided attention, with his thoughts attached to the image of jisoo striding about across the rink. if he had the choice, he would only perform his programs to seungcheol, showing him every ounce of his love for the hockey player through each and every precise movement.

his mind was beginning to loosen itself up, flowing to the beat rather than seeming like a robot programmed to skate and shut down. the figure skater found himself reaching the all important moment where his body went into auto-pilot, spreading his oversized sweater wings and pivoting around to see seungcheol’s excited smile - the same smile that he would wake up to and fall asleep to, that he would see whilst brushing his teeth and cooking their dinner, that he would notice during cuddles and during stargazing sessions. the same smile he would see day in and day out, yet still feel as giddy as a school girl when his pupils would glance over it. it held a lot of power, that smile, enough to energise jisoo to push off on his foot to propel his body into the air.

the icy breeze from the air conditioner pounded against his skin, despite being completely barricaded by the sweat from his training and the warmth of his heart from seungcheol’s mere presence. it felt cooling rather than freezing, soothing the tense muscles that hadn’t been touched yet by seungcheol’s delicate fingertips. and then sooner than he could realise, gravity had pulled him back down to earth after four whole rotations, causing an immediate smile to shock energy into his concentrated demeanour. he saw the corners of seungcheol’s crimson lips grow wider in amazement.

“look, cheol! i’m doing it!” he shouted quickly, before jumping again. he was so entranced in the endorphins that followed with such a surprise that his attention span wasn’t at its full potential by the time he reached the third quad. “baby, i’m really–!”

and then jisoo misplaced his footing, finding himself falling head over heels (it wouldn’t be the first time he’s experienced that in his lifetime) in front of seungcheol, and luckily not in a position that could sustain an injury. 

the younger boy pouted as his boyfriend exploded into laughter like an erupting volcano, simultaneously cooing at the adorable nature of his jisoo. seungcheol couldn’t help himself as he keeled over, trying to keep himself upright on the ice with his bent knees as he attempted to regain his bearings and stop cackling. he aimlessly reached out for his boyfriend’s hand, who weakly grabbed ahold of the older’s palm with modest shame.

“i’m so stupid…” jisoo mumbled, pressing his face against seungcheol’s chest, who noticed the indent of a smile when jisoo hid himself from embarrassment.

once those words left jisoo’s lips, seungcheol placed his finger and thumb around jisoo’s chin, lifting his head back up to eye level like his own personal trophy, and felt his heart perform a quadruple lutz in his ribcage when he saw the garden of roses blooming upon jisoo’s fragile cheeks.

“stupidly cute, that’s what you are.”

gently, seungcheol tilted jisoo’s head so that when he began to kiss the younger, he wouldn’t end up bumping noses with the hockey player (as they had learnt during their first kiss all those years ago). even in the bitter cold, where his senses would be entirely frozen stiff, jisoo still tasted like summer fruits, the ones that grow only in the brightest sunlight and are bursting with the flavour which would fill the consumer with complete delight. seungcheol smiled into the kiss, his taste buds running wild as he took jisoo in - his scent, his touch, his everything. was it possible for someone to fall in love with another multiple times over? seungcheol felt as if he was the one tripping over his feet on the slippery ice, the thought of jisoo wholly taking over his mind and distracting him from the entirety of his surroundings.

he could only see gold with jisoo. every day, when he was able to wake up to such a beautiful entity, and he was able to realise that he could spend the rest of his life with an angel on earth, seungcheol would feel as if he had won every competition known to man. he didn’t need a medal to symbolise his love, nonetheless, because loving jisoo was the best prize he could think of. it didn’t matter if his team completely fell apart, or if the stadium burnt down to ashes, or even if the world somehow fell into an apocalyptic state, as long as he still had jisoo, then everything was alright in his eyes.

seeing the figure skater’s eyes flutter open again after parting reminded seungcheol of the butterfly fields in spring that he desperately wanted to take his boyfriend to see (but alas, practice overwhelmed both of their schedules once again), and the transition from the thoughts of daylight to the visuals of midnight in jisoo’s speckled eyes made seungcheol innerly swooned. how could one man be so sensually perfect?

“do you feel better now?” seungcheol queried, delicately brushing his thumb against jisoo’s chin, almost as if he was a luxury artifact.

the figure skater giggled in response, “i feel splendid.”

the older male unfortunately disconnected himself from jisoo’s body, skating backwards slightly and making small movements towards the rink exit with a smirk now plastered across his face. “splendid enough to play some hockey with your favourite person in the entire universe?”

“i wouldn’t go that extent, you’re competing with timothée chalamet here.” folding his arms and his giggles erupting into chuckles, jisoo saw the excitement glistening in his boyfriend’s eyes, and it was the least that he could do in return for his acts of benevolence that evening. “but yes it would be an honour, cheol, i’ll have to warn you though, i’m a lot stronger than i was last time.”

“we’ll put that to the test...so prepare to be thrashed, mr hong!”

even though jisoo was constantly being dragged away by soonyoung to improve routines, and even though seungcheol was constantly trying to piece his team back together after their downfalls, they still managed to find a way to come back together at the end of the day to live in a world where they were the only two that mattered to one another. a world where their lives weren’t hectic, and maybe even...normal.

☆彡☆彡☆彡☆彡☆彡☆彡☆彡☆彡☆彡

_glide, glide, step ball change._

he wasn’t alone this time. maybe in his mind, his lonely voice called out each movement monotonously to make sure he followed in time with the music; but this time, thousands of peering eyes were gazing down upon him from the rink, the rest of the stadium dark as the spotlight followed his every movement. every bone in his body was screaming in stress, wanting to shiver and shake and let him collapse onto the ice in pure anxiety. the netted suit was tight against his chest, the black, opaque tights close to cutting off the circulation in his legs. every eye was judging him, pointing out his every mistake as he made his way across the rink. the music was tranquil, with the piano attempting to soothe his mind as it raced off in front of him at a hundred miles per hour.

_arms out, glide, and complete turn._

the image of seungcheol watching from the sidelines made his heart run wild, pumping more blood through his veins and releasing more energy into his body. he could imagine the hockey player’s concentrating demeanour glancing down nervously from behind his paper program, and the adorable thought fought against the petrified chemicals attacking his body. he wanted to dedicate this dance to seungcheol, in order to put as much passion and emotion into each limb lifted at the minimum, and with his boyfriend in mind, nothing seemed impossible. seungcheol never failed to give him the courage to persist when the darkness would overshadow the star that shines over him, and his little words of motivation were one of the many things he loved the boy for; one of hundreds, if not thousands.

he needed to make this his big moment, the hardest set of jumps in his complex free skate. jisoo closed his eyes in anticipation.

_glide, glide, glide, and–_

his self-conscience stopped himself from finishing that sentence in his head, almost completely forgetting about the reason why he was trying so hard to have his boyfriend’s face remain in the forefront of his mind. he couldn’t have the robotic instructions overcome him once again if he wants to add more emotion into his free skate. if he wanted to show seungcheol how much he truly was devoted to him, he would need to snap out of old habits like when they were back at the rink in daegu.

he reminisced in the wake up calls on early monday mornings, where seungcheol would cling to his arm like a sloth so they could spend another ten minutes absorbing each other’s warmth and treasuring the other’s presence before they were forced apart for the day by fate; he remembered all of the home-cooked meals they would try and create like all of the internet vloggers despite knowing that neither of them could form even a slice of toast without burning half of the kitchen down, coercing them to buy chinese takeout when they know that they really shouldn’t; he recalled the nights where they would watch the stars passing by busily as they sipped red wine, pondering about future plans and past mistakes, embracing one another as the dusk leisurely turned to dawn.

his moves were less automated and more authentic, feeling closer to the dance of a swan than a pesky crow. his facial expressions were suddenly ones of joy as the tone of the piano changed with his every action. he was stepping out of his comfort zone and truly into the light.

this was his true potential, and he could feel it spreading through his body like the sun’s rays on a summer’s day.

and so he jumped.

_“a quadruple lutz!”_

he grinned again.

_“a triple axel!”_

he could still smell seungcheol’s cologne wrapping around his waist as he spun.

_“and a triple salchow!”_

and the crowd went wild as he landed all of his jumps.

 _“hong jisoo has really treated us here today, folks, making moves that he was failing to perform last season look like a piece of cake!”_ the commentator called out through the microphone, with audience members clapping until their palms were sore as jisoo continued his program, his heart filling up with love and lust for his boyfriend.

_“most wouldn’t have thought that he would’ve attempted another quad after performing a quadruple toe loop in the beginning sequence, but the true mystery is how he managed to keep up that amount of energy to perform those complex jumps in the second half?”_

_“i do not know, steve, and that is the power of competitive figure skating.”_

and as it came to his final spin, jisoo felt a wave of satisfaction crash against his body, like the water washing up upon the shore. his heart was ready to jump out of his throat and onto the ice to collect the roses that were soon to be gathering on the ice beneath him, whilst his mind found itself at rest, with the only numbness coming from his hands and feet from the immensely bitter frost that came as a result of standing in a room full of frozen water.

his leg - which was originally at an one hundred and eighty degree angle above his head - found its way back to down to the ice floor, jisoo’s arms raising themselves up one last time to create his ending position for the judges to see clearly. then, it was over.

for some reason, amongst his heavy huffing, everyone’s voices became muffled, blending into the background as if it were merely a silent buzz rather than a vociferous uproar. yet, nonetheless, one voice stood out within the abundance of noises, one that meant even more to him than any useless compliment given to him by the rest of the audience members in the stadium: seungcheol’s whistles.

his boyfriend was known for using unusual noises to form a specific emotion - such as a groan for disappointment, or a whine if he is wanting to be greedy - but whistles were only used in moments where his pride was at his highest. so when he would listen out and hear the birdsong that would leave seungcheol’s lips, jisoo wouldn’t need any more clarification than that. he knew then that he had done his best, and that he had improved exponentially since his last championship. seungcheol’s pride was never based off of winning; it was based off of personal success.

in soonyoung’s eyes he could notice gratification, as they awaited jisoo’s final score to be confirmed by the judges. being the final skater, the overall positions were down to his final score, but knowing that he managed to snap out of his ancient routine and find his true reason for success, he more or less revelled in his joy before he was told to by the officials.

_“and south korea’s hong jisoo, with a score of 97.83 on the short program and 221.58 on his free skate, has achieved a total of 319.41 overall, and is the winner of the sochi grand prix!”_

**_wait, what?_ **

he could feel the burning glares of the reigning champion in the back of his scalp, but the pain was drowned away massively by the profuse emotions putting pressure on his brain like some sort of pleasant headache. he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or gasp, and the boy ended up performing a mixture of all three in the span of five seconds, grabbing ahold of soonyoung’s hands and jumping on the spot in joy and disbelief at the fact that he - a consistent 5th placer - managed to jump all the way to the top prize.

a loud ruckus resonated from behind them both, and their heads and the cameras panned to seungcheol pushing through the security guards to reach his boyfriend. sniffling at the sight of his passion, jisoo waddled over to the swooning man and pulled him past the bulky men and their tacky polos, immediately pressing his face against the hockey player’s jersey and sobbing into the cotton embroidery. it felt slightly like deja vu. many sounds of pathos erupted from the crowds (now knowing that the cameras had zoomed into one of his most vulnerable moments) as jisoo wrapped his arms around seungcheol’s torso and the latter peppered kisses into his scalp to repose the figure skater’s knotted thoughts.

“i’m so proud of you, baby.” was one of the many sentences to leave seungcheol’s lips as they held tightly onto one another, almost as if they were going to drift apart if they let go. “you’re so amazing and i love you so much. you did spectacular and i’m so goddamn proud of you.”

“i’m proud of you too,” jisoo sniffled into seungcheol’s chest, recalling the match he had watched prior where his boyfriend led his team to victory at long last.

“now,” jisoo felt a soggy kiss pressing against his soaken, cherry cheeks as he looked up at seungcheol, whose grin sparkles brighter than the ice under intense spotlights. “wipe those rivers from your cheeks and go and get your gold, shua!”

jisoo didn’t feel the absolute need to step up onto the podium and retrieve his medal, waving to thousands of fans in the stadium and in their homes as he was applauded for his efforts.

because being able to call seungcheol his boyfriend, and being able to spend the rest of his life with said boyfriend, and being able to know that said boyfriend will love him until death do they part was the best prize he could ever receive.

because with seungcheol, jisoo was always winning gold.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on my new twt acc @incorrectchlsoo  
> where i just post random quick things about cheolsoo sjsjs i try to be funny i promise
> 
> feedback is always appreciated! 
> 
> ☆thank you for reading!☆


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